Sonic the Hedgehog - Chaotic Reconstruction
by Saint of Salvation
Summary: When Eggman begins using Chao instead of flickies to power his machines, Sonic, Tails, Knuckles, Amy, Cream, Cheese and Tikal must venture out on a quest to save their planet. But with Eggman's newly-innovated mechanical army, as well as the obstruction from Shadow, Rouge, and a new (yet at the same time not so new) force, saving the world may prove to be harder than expected.
1. Chapter 1

Sonic woke from his slumber at the sound of of his home phone ringing. He opened one eye without rising, considered getting up to answer, then decided against it. The phone continued to ring, much to Sonic's annoyance. He disregarded it a second time and closed his eyes again. Still, it rung. Thoroughly sick of the disruptive ringing, Sonic got up with a groan and answered. "Whaaaat?" he asked petulantly.

"Sonic," Tails' worried voice responded, "Mobius is under attack!" Now Sonic was listening.

"By who?" he asked.

"Metal." Sonic assured Tails that he would be over in a second. This was bad. Metal Sonic had been one of the biggest threats Sonic and his friends had fought before. Quickly, Sonic put on his shoes and ran to Tails' house as quick as he could. Startled, Tails gasped as Sonic instantly appeared before him. "Woah," Tails said in awe at Sonic's speed, "you weren't kidding when you said 'a second.' "

"So are we doing this alone?" Sonic asked his furry friend.

"Of course not," replied Knuckles's voice as he approached from Tails' house with Amy and Cream close behind, "Do you really think I'd let you hog the fun all for yourself?" Amy ran to Sonic.

"And," Amy added, "do you really think I'd let you risk yourself against that rust-bucket? Besides, I have a score to settle with him!" She was now worked up and began to stomp her feet rapidly. Cream quickly ran to calm Amy down.

"Amy" she whined, "save your rage for the battle field." Amy sighed.

"You're right, Cream," she said, soothed at her friends' words.

"We should really get going now guys," Tails reminded them. With a nod, they all sprinted full speed to Mobius.

Sonic and his allies found Metal Sonic trapping a group of flickies in a blue, glowing net. "Why does Doctor Eggman always have to incarcerate the innocent animals?" Cream asked from behind Metal Sonic. The blue machine turned around to see Sonic, Tails, Knuckles, Amy, and Cream before him.

"**Hostile subject detected**," Metal Sonic boomed.

"Yeah," Knuckles replied, "nobody gives a-"

"**Initiating elimination protocol. Terminating.**" The hole on Metal Sonic's torso began glowing inside. Suddenly, a laser shot out of it. Sonic and Tails jumped to the right while Knuckles, Amy, and Cream dodged to the left. The 5 charged at Metal Sonic simultaneously. Knuckles and Amy ran at him while Cream, Sonic, and Tails flipped over him and landed behind. Knuckles attempted a punch at Metal Sonic's face, only to be avoided by Metal Sonic merely tilting his torso to the left. Immediately after that, Metal Sonic (and Knuckles) ducked under Amy's mallet swing. Then, Metal sidestepped to avoid Cream's flying kick with Cheese at the center of her feet, which was followed by a kick from Sonic that Metal swayed away with his arm. Tails ran at Metal and attempted a tail-swipe. Metal backflipped over it, but Sonic, Knuckles, Amy, Cream, and Cheese were all hit. "Hey!" Knuckles complained, "watch who you're hitting.

"Sorry!" Tails squawked. Coated in a yellow aura, Metal rammed into Tails from behind. Tails crashed into the corner with all of his injured friends. "This is inevitable," Tails grunted as he rubbed is aching head, " We are going to end up striking one another if we all take him on at the same time."

"So I guess we each take him on one on one until he falls," Amy said.

"To end this as soon as possible, " Knuckles said, "I'll go first." Sonic rolled his eyes.

"Cocky as ever, aren't you?" Sonic chuckled. "Well, go for it, knucklehead."

"You've got this Knuckles!" Tails cheered.

"Kick his butt!" Amy added.

"Please be careful," Cream pleaded. Knuckles popped his neck and fists as he approached his opponent.

"You ready, tin can?" Knuckles cockily asked Metal Sonic.

"**Low-intelligence organism identified as 'Knuckles',** " Metal Sonic responded.

"Hey!" Knuckles complained, "who you callin' low-intelligence?!"

"What does it look like, knucklehead?" Sonic mocked from behind. Knuckles literally growled. Feeling there was no more need for words, Knuckles began the battle. He lifted an enormous chunk of earth from the ground at threw it at Metal Sonic. Metal Sonic merely shot the boulder with a laser from his chest, destroying it instantly. Knuckles smiled. That was just what he was counting on. Using the gargantuan dust cloud from the destroyed earth chunk as a smoke screen, Knuckles jumped forward and halted his momentum when he was directly above his opponent. In the air, Knuckles positioned his entire body downwards, pointed a fist to the ground, and spun rapidly as he fell to the floor with spiraling flames circling his body. Instead of impaling Metal Sonic with his flaming fist, Knuckles was knocked away as soon as he made contact. Bewildered, Knuckles stared at the dust cloud where Metal Sonic stood. As the dust cleared, Knuckles could see that Metal had activated a black, rhombus-shaped shield around his body. That was what had knocked Knuckles away. Instantly, Metal Sonic appeared in front of Knuckles and swung his palm into a swift chop. Knuckles barely reacted in time to duck under it and retaliated with a punch. Metal Sonic tilted his head to dodge it, and he followed with a hook-punch. Knuckles caught it, however, and flipped him over. Knuckles raised both fists over head and attempted to swing them down on his fallen opponent, but Metal kicked his legs up to counter Knuckles' attack. Knuckles soared through the air and at last landed hard on the floor. He barely had time to roll to the side as Metal Sonic fired a laser at the spot Knuckles was just in. Knuckles ran to Metal and delivered a punch to the gut that sent the robot crashing through a tree. Suddenly, a portal opened beneath Knuckles' feet, and Knuckles fell to his knees. The portal was a gravity field that was making Knuckles feel like he was shackled to the floor. Metal shot him with a laser from a distance before he could get up. "Mr. Knuckles!" Cream cried out in concern. "Let's go Cheese!" she called to her partner. Cheese jumped into Cream's hand, and she chucked him with amazing force at Metal Sonic. Metal Sonic turned around and punched the ground. A wave from the force of the impact rose from the ground and threw Cheese higher into the air. Cream flew at Metal Sonic with her feet pointed at him. Metal Sonic immediately jumped to dodge Cream's flying kick. He coated himself in a yellow aura once again and charged down at Cream, who did a jumping cartwheel kick to parry it. Now she was in the air and Metal Sonic was grounded. The robot uppercutted at his aerial opponent. Cream parried it with an axe-kick with Cheese following the trail of her foot to magnify the strength. Then she dove down with a kick as Metal ascended with a rising uppercut. Once again in the air, Metal swung his fist down, but it clashed with Cheese, who was amplifying the strength of Cream's upward chop. The impact launched Metal higher into the air, so he let himself land, ducked under Cream's kick, and punched her in the stomach. The blow sent Cream crashing into Knuckles' unconscious body. Just as Amy was about to step in, Metal received an order from Eggman. He had been ordered to retreat. "**Understood**," Metal Sonic said, "**returning to HQ.**"

"That's good," Sonic told Tails and Amy, "I don't think we would have won this."

"Agreed," Tails responded, "we should take Knuckles and Cream to their respective houses to rest." Sonic slumped Knuckles onto his back, and Tails carried Cream in his arms. "Look," Amy pointed out, "he left the flickies in the net." Amy freed the flickies, and they ran and flew away. Following their lead, Sonic, Tails and Amy headed back as well.

When they returned home, Sonic, Tails and Amy placed their injured friends on beds to rest and recover. Cheese was losing it, however. She was going nuts. Tails assumed she was worried about Cream. However, Cream then woke up. "Cheese," Cream groaned, "what's wrong?"

"Chao, chao!" she responded. Cream's eyes widened as she let out a loud gasp.

"Woah," Amy interjected, "what did she say?" Cream shook her head and began to cry.

"All of the Chao in Mobius are gone," she weeped.


	2. Chapter 2

Rouge hovered meticulously over the Master Emerald's altar. Usually that read-headed rat Knuckles was guarding it. This time around, however, Knuckles wasn't there. That was extremely rare. Though she did find Knuckles' absence unsettling, Rouge descended and looked around. Still, there was no sign of Knuckles. Rouge smiled and decided to take full advantage of this absence to at last steal the Master Emerald. As Rouge approached the Master Emerald, it began to flash and glow hectically. "Woah," Rouge wondered out loud, "what's going on?" It continued to glow brighter, and Rouge began to hear a chant emerging from the Master Emerald.

" The servers are the seven Chaos. Chaos is power, power enriched by the heart. The heart is the controller. The controller serves to unify the chaos. "

"Hey," Rouge began, "isn't that the chant Knu-" She was cut off by an enormous flash of blinding light. Rouge had to look away to avoid becoming blind as a bat. When the light dimmed out, Rouge turned to look at the Master Emerald once again, only to find a female echidna standing in front of it.

"Oh my!" the echidna blurted out, "I did not expect to find someone else guarding the Master Emerald." Rouge eyed the newcomer.

"Who are you?" she asked suspiciously.

"My name is Tikal," answered the peach-furred echidna. "May I ask who you are?"

"I'm Rouge," Rouge replied.

"Well then, Rouge," Tikal said, "may I ask what you are doing here? If I am not mistaken, is not Knuckles the one entrusted with the responsibility of guarding the Master Emerald?" Rouge scoffed.

"Who said I'm here to guard it?" Rouge asked. "Maybe it isn't as obvious for one as naïve as yourself, but I'm here to take it."

"What?" Tikal asked, "Why would you do that? Surely you understand its purpose and importance."

"I do!" Rouge cheered as she clapped her hands excitedly, "It's purpose is to sit in my house and brighten the place up with it's beauty!"

"No!" Tikal responded, "that is most certainly not its purpose. Long ago, the gods realized that people were using the chaos emeralds for evil and created the Master Emerald as their plan for restoring order. Should the chaos emeralds' power fall into the wrong hands, the Master Emerald could negate it. And apparently," Tikal continued as she looked around Angel Island, "it is now being used to keep this place aloft." Rouge yawned.

"I didn't ask for a history lesson," she mocked. Now it was Tikal's turn to scoff. She was greatly infuriated by Rouge's selfish ignorance. "Watch your tongue! The Master Emerald delivers justice upon those it deems seamy, and you are not giving it a very good impression! If you failed to keep up with my explanation, let me simplify it for you. This emerald not only was created to keep this island floating, but also to stop people like you!" Rouge merely sighed.

"If you don't get out of my way, I will remove you myself," Rouge threatened.

"Such selfish barbarity!" Tikal yelled before ducking under a kick from Rouge. Rouge attempted several more kicks, each which were successfully dodged or blocked by Tikal. Tikal retaliated with a thrust kick. Rouge caught it and flipped Tikal over, kicked her away, and ran after her. When Rouge attempted an unsafe standing split-kick that left her open, Tikal countered with a palm strike. However, she strengthened it further with a bolt of energy at her palms. It sent Rouge sprawling away. The Master Emerald suddenly flashed. Tikal turned to Rouge from a distance, wondering if she was unconscious already. As Rouge got up and opened her eyes, she knew something was wrong right away. Everything was dark. Had the Master Emerald created a void around her and Tikal to ensure no nearby animals were hurt in their battle? Suddenly, Rouge felt a powerful thrust kick hit her in the stomach, and she was knocked away even further. Rouge got up by cartwheeling away and felt her foot kick Tikal in the process, but she could not see it. Yet she knew Tikal could see her, otherwise how could Tikal have run up to her and kick her?

"Wh-what did you do to me?" Rouge asked in horror. Tikal looked at Rouge in pity, knowing that Rouge could not tell the sympathy in her face. Tikal masked her pity with harsh words. "Blindness best suits a bat, I suppose," Tikal mocked. "The Master Emerald has an ironic punishment for you, does it not?" Tikal asked the bat that now had collapsed to her knees in tears. "It seems to hope that perhaps by being blinded, you can see the error of your ways." Tikal decided to show a bit more of her sympathy. "I truly am sorry for what the Master Emerald has done to you. In any case, I will not defy its judgment. Good luck." And with that, Tikal went to search for sonic and his friends, leaving Rouge to sob herself to sleep, but not before swearing revenge on Tikal.


	3. Chapter 3

Sonic, Tails, Knuckles, Amy, and Cream all gathered to discuss the recent calamity. "So Tails," Sonic began, "tell us what you infer is happening from the information we have."

"Well," Tails replied, "it seems Metal Sonic was sent as a distraction to lure us away from Mobius while Eggman himself kidnapped the Chao. I thought Metal Sonic's attack seemed quite deliberate, but I made the grave mistake of disregarding it. Anyways, I speculate Eggman has figured out that with all the mystical energy within the chao, his machines will become far stronger when powered by chao instead of flickies."

"Well," the now-recovered Knuckles asked, "is he right?" Tails looked to his feet and nodded.

"I'm afraid that I indeed concur with his theory. Any move we make next against Eggman will prove to be far more challenging as his machines will be much more powerful. And I can't even begin to imagine what would happen if Metal Sonic were to be powered by a chao and chaos emerald." Amy shifted uncomfortably.

"Actually, Tails," Amy spoke up, "Eggman has different plans for Metal Sonic."

"What do you mean, Amy?" Cream asked.

"When he kidnapped me years ago," Amy said, "I overheard him speaking to himself. He's planning to instal a nuclear reactor in Metal Sonic as his power supply. " Knuckle's eyes grew wide.

"What?!" he exclaimed. "A nuclear reactor?! He'd be unstoppable! Why the heck didn't you say anything sooner?!"

" Because, " Amy replied, "I didn't expect him to return. How was I supposed to know he could survive exploding after falling off a highway in outer space!?" Sonic stepped in between Amy and Knuckles.

"Alright, that's enough, you two," he said in an effort to prevent any further conflict. "We need to figure out what our next move will be, and fighting isn't going to help us accomplish that." As if on cue, a missile zoomed past the team. Alarmed, they all turned their heads and saw an old foe. Cream looked around, realizing she was apparently the only one oblivious to this oppressor's identity.

"Excuse me, Mr. Tails," Cream said as she tapped lightly on his shoulder, "but who is this?"

"That pile of junk is a petty imitation of yours truly that the Doc attempted to create," Knuckles replied, "Metal Knuckles." Cream examined the foe.

"At the very least," she noted, "he bears quite the physical resemblance." Knuckles shrugged.

"Let's just incapacitate him already," Tails told his friends. "I assume Doctor Eggman sent him to us with the task of eliminating any possible nuisances." Everyone nodded. They proceeded to battle the mechanical monstrosity with the same strategy of engaging in combat individually until the robot fell. This time, Metal Knuckles refused to be destroyed. He flew away in retreat, but Sonic and his allies gave chase. With his enemies in pursuit, Metal Knuckles needed a distraction to get away. It was futile. The only thing he was carrying was the capsule full of chao. But he was not going to die again; he couldn't go through that once more. With the slightest bit of reluctance, Metal Knuckles threw the capsule at his enemies. He could always re-capture those Chao anyways.

"Woah!" Sonic exclaimed as he halted his momentum by digging his heels onto the ground to avoid being crushed by the colossal capsule. Knuckles didn't react quickly enough and crashed into the blue hedgehog. "Watch where you're going, knucklehead," Sonic complained. Tails turned around and noticed someone approaching.

"Guys," Tails pointed out, "is that…Tikal?!" As the figure got closer, it was clear that the subject was indeed Tikal. Amy ran to her and wrapped her in a hug. "Tikal!" she cried, "it's so good to see you again!" Tikal laughed joyously. "I missed you too!" she replied. "I arrived as soon as I discovered that the chao were in danger here. Immediately when I appeared in front of the Master Emerald on Angel Island, I was greeted by a hostile and ignorant female bat." Knuckles scowled.

"Rouge," he concluded, "She must have taken advantage of when I was recovering. Tikal continued.

"She attempted to steal the Master Emerald, and when I impeded her plan, she attacked me. I fought her for a while, and suddenly the Master Emerald flashed brighter. When Rouge opened her eyes, they were lifeless and blank. She lost her eyesight." Everyone gasped.

"Poor Miss Rouge!" Cream commented. "She may not have been the most righteous of people, but she didn't deserve to-" Cream suddenly stopped. She pointed to the capsule that Amy realized the had completely forgotten about. "In there," Cream began, "I sense a large presence of-"

"-Chao," Tikal finished.

Tails meticulously examined the large capsule and jumped onto the switch on the top of it. The capsule opened, releasing a swarm of chao. They all flew to Cream, Cheese and Tikal. "Oh my!" Tikal interjected. "What were you all doing in there?" she asked the Chao. The Chao responded with numerous repetitions of their species, but Cream, Cheese, and Tikal seemed to be understanding.

"Goodness!" Cream exclaimed as Cheese "chao-ed" in shock.

"That's terrible!" Tikal exclaimed. Sonic scratched his head, puzzled. "What did they say?" he asked. Cream shook her head.

"I can't bear to say it," she told Tikal. "Can you explain it to them?" Tikal nodded.

"Eggman has been raiding numerous groups of Chao and imprisoning them in capsules until they pass out from suffocation. When they are passed out, Eggman inserts them as the core of his machines."

"That heartless savage!" Amy yelled.

"Okay," Sonic told his allies, "if every one of his stronger inventions is carrying a chao capsule, we should split into pairs and go after individual enemies. Tails, you're with me. Knuckles, your fists hit as hard as Amy's mallet, and you can glide and wall climb, while she is easily the most acrobatic of us. You two would make a formidable team together. Cream and Tikal, you both have a unique and powerful connection with Chao, so I think you two should be in a pair. Does anyone object?" Nobody said anything. "Good, then let's get going." With that, all of the pairs went their own separate directions, leaving themselves at fate's hands.


	4. Chapter 4

The silence in Dr. Eggman's laboratory only made Orbot more apprehensive. The mad scientist was currently innovating many of his field operatives, enhancing them with the power of the Chao. Meanwhile, Cubot was trying to figure out how mechanical pencils worked as Orbot watched Dr. Eggman modify his creations. "Doctor," Orbot began, "shouldn't Metal Knuckles have returned by now? I am beginning to suspect that those pesky mammals may have subdued him."

"If he can really be defeated so easily," Eggman replied without interrupting his work, "then he isn't worth your or my concern."

"…I suppose so," Orbot agreed, although he remained just as tense. Eggman noticed Orbot didn't sound very convinced.

"I know what you're worrying about," Eggman assured the red robot. "You fear we could be ambushed by Sonic and his gang of weasels." Orbot nodded reluctantly. "Well," the scientist continued, "if that was the case, then we'd still have Metal and all my other subordinates to protect us." Orbot relaxed a bit at those reassuring words.

"That is conceivable," Orbot admitted. "In any case, I still believe Metal Knuckles is taking an unsettlingly long time to return. Perhaps he has failed yet again." Eggman shrugged. By pure coincidence, the sliding doors of Eggman's laboratory opened, and Metal Knuckles entered the lab. "Ah," Orbot noted, "at last you're back. How did it go?" Metal Knuckles looked to the floor in shame. Orbot sighed. "As expected. At the very least, you returned in one piece this time."

"Stop patronizing him," Eggman calmly ordered. "We have more important issues to deal with. Such as…," Eggman said as he turned around, "how you got in here, Shadow the Hedgehog." Metal Knuckles raised his fists in a fighting stance as Shadow approached them. The black hedgehog smiled.

"Impressive indeed," Shadow responded. "How did you know I was here?" Eggman glared at the red-streaked rodent.

"Because I just know you so well," Eggman answered. Shadow stopped smiling.

"It would appear so," he replied. "So what's the master scheme this time?" Eggman scowled.

"Such sarcasm," he pointed out. "You're reminding me of Orbot," he said, earning a glare from Orbot. "If you insist on knowing, I am using Chao to power my machines now rather than flickies. They have proven to make the robotic vessels far more formidable." Shadow snickered.

"You'd best be careful," Shadow mocked, "you could be sued by an animal protection service."

"Says the one who spends his free time pummeling a blue hedgehog."

"Touché."

"You're taking this quite well. I figured your 'honorable morality' would turn you against my plan," Eggman pointed out. Shadow shrugged.

"Normally it would," the hedgehog said, "but if it's keeping your grubby hands away from the Chaos Emeralds, it's fine by me." Orbot glared at Shadow and said,

"Of course that's all you care about, you despicable, deplorable, disreputable, detestable-"

"Okay!" Cubot interrupted, "we get it; you like big words that start with D!" Orbot scowled.

"Those are big words?" he asked.

"That's enough, you two," Eggman told them. He then returned his attention to Shadow. "So," he began, "if you haven't come to impede my work, then why are you here?"

"Isn't it obvious?" Shadow asked. "I'm here to take your Chaos Emeralds." Eggman smirked.

"I expected about as much. So what would you do if I told you I don't intend on handing them over to you?" Eggman inquired. Shadow closed his fists.

"Then I'd merely extract them from you," Shadow answered.

"Oh I'm not the one you'd have to extract them from," Eggman assured him. Shadow made a confused hum.

"Then who?" he asked the corrupted genius.

"Me," said a voice from behind Shadow. The black hedgehog turned around and saw Metal Sonic standing before him. Shadow grinned.

"So instead of fighting a fat nerd," Shadow acknowledged, "I'm battling a can opener. This shouldn't take too long."

"Quite the sharp tongue," Eggman growled. "Now prepare to suffer the retribution. Metal, attack!" Metal Sonic flew at Shadow and attempted a horizontal chop. Shadow caught Metal Sonic's hand and crushed it by merely tightening his grip while coating it in energy. Metal Sonic retaliated with a kick followed by a trail of energy from it that crashed Shadow into a wall. Shadow's impact made a small crater on the wall and stuck him to it. As Shadow was pinned to the wall, Metal Sonic took advantage to fire a concentrated laser from his chest at his stuck opponent. However, Shadow spun in place coated in chaos energy to parry the blast, then shot himself at Metal Sonic with a homing attack. Metal Sonic stretched his hand forward to halt the spinning Shadow, but as Metal only had one hand, Shadow's attack was edging him back. Finally, Metal raised his leg to kick shadow's spinning form up through the roof. Metal Sonic flew up through the hole in pursuit. He got on the roof and saw Shadow there as well. They ran towards each other and traded blows faster than the eye could see. However, Metal Sonic then enveloped himself in a rhombus-shaped shield that knocked Shadow away. Shadow summoned four swords of chaos energy and shot them at Metal Sonic, then ran alongside the swords. Shadow quickly ended up in front of all the swords, but tilted his body as he ran to allow a sword to dart forward. Metal ducked under the first sword, then was struck by a spinning kick from Shadow. However, as Shadow spun for his kick, a sword whizzed past Shadow and struck Metal. Shadow then did a backflip, allowing a sword to dart forward beneath him, and kicking Metal as he landed and as the sword hit Metal Sonic. Shadow then vanished into thin air allowing the last sword to shoot forward. It pierced into Metal Sonic's chest hole just as it was about to fire a laser. The energy sword materialized into a real one and jammed the hole. However, the blast from within the hole fired anyways inside of Metal Sonic, blowing him to bits. Shadow smirked. "Now that wasn't too difficult," he said, though the way he grimaced slightly and held his arm in pain said otherwise. Some small floating object caught Shadow's eye. Shadow turned and saw Eggman, Orbot, and Cubot flying away in the Egg Mobile. Shadow shook his head. "Typical cowardly retreat," he said to himself. As Shadow turned to see the parts of his dismembered foe Metal Sonic, he saw a glowing object in the debris. As Shadow approached it, he realized what it was: a Chaos Emerald. _Sheesh,_ Shadow thought, _the old man wasn't kidding when he said I had to extract the Emerald from Metal Sonic. It was literally inside of him._ Shadow then looked around, realizing he didn't really know what to do next. _I may as well give it to Rouge. She'd certainly take good care of it_. And with that, Shadow continued on his journey.


	5. Chapter 5

Sonic and Tails zoomed by Green Hill Zone, dodging any spikes and avoiding any trenches as they whizzed through the grassy fields at sonic speeds. Sonic was running while Tails flew close behind. Suddenly, an enormous plasma blast shot down at Sonic. Sonic had to jump back to avoid being disintegrated. As Sonic jumped back, the floating Tails caught him in the air and thunder shot him at the buzz bomber that had fired the blast. Sonic bounced back in recoil and was caught by Tails once again, but the Wasp was still there. "Woah!" Tails exclaimed. "They used to fire small orbs, not plasma blasts!"

"And," Sonic continued, "they used to die in one strike. But look at this one; it took a hit, yet it's fine!" The Buzz Bomber seemed unimpressed and fired another blast. Tails and Sonic dodged in separate directions. As the duo dodged laser blasts, many more Buzz Bombers began appearing from all directions. They fired barrages of blasts as Sonic and Tails acrobatically dodged them all. Tails and Sonic landed back-to-back, panting. "This is gonna be tough," Tails noted.

Knuckles hated to admit it, but he was having difficulty keeping up with the agile Amy. Amy was flipping through the Sky Sanctuary with ease as Knuckles glided alongside her. Amy took out her Piko-Piko hammer upon the arrival of a new obstruction, a slivery-looking moto-bug that approached the two. It charged at her with surprising speed, but Amy was still faster and managed to jump over it. Then she pointed her hammer down, sat on it, and spun down on it. The badnik was knocked back, but it got up with ease. Knuckles then punched it from behind as Amy swung it up with her mallet, to which Knuckles followed by jumping up to the bandit and slamming it down with his two fists. Amy ended the combo by launching a tornado from her hammer that knocked the moto-bug off of the sanctuary. Soon many more motobugs began to arrive from the horizon. "Well, Knuckles," Amy grinned, "you ready for some fun?" Knuckles popped his neck.

"You know it!" he replied. The two charged into the mess of titanium ladybug-chao cyborgs.

In the beautiful Twinkle Snow zone, Cream, Cheese, and Tikal ran through a loop that ended with a slanted-up ledge that sent the team flying into a spring on a wall facing forward. The spring launched them horizontally into a spinning handle that they let go of at an angle that sent them at a diagonal trajectory into a dash ring that shot the two ladies to a new platform which moved on its own, giving them a chance to rest. "Cream," Tikal panted, "how can one so young have such exceptional stamina?" Cream shrugged.

"I suppose it's just my experience," she guessed. "Are you going to be okay, Miss Tikal?" Tikal nodded, too out of breath to respond with words. Cream smiled at the reassurance on the safety of her new friend. "How about you, Cheese?" Cream asked. Cheese responded with a happy, "Chao!" Cream giggled.

"That's good to hear!" she said. Tikal tapped lightly on Cream's shoulder and said,

"The platform is reaching its end. Let's get ready to leap onto the next area." Cream nodded. The two jumped as far as they could with Cheese flying next to them. The three girls made vanished into a giant ring. As they reappeared out of another giant ring, they found themselves next to their allies, all just as tired as them.

"Cream!" Amy cried joyously as she hugged her best friend. "Are you, Tikal and Cheese alright? Even knuckles and I had a struggle against these new enemies." Knuckles scoffed.

"Oh please," he gloated, "it wasn't that difficult; not for me at least." Sonic chuckled.

"Those scratches and bruises say otherwise." Tails laughed, earning a growl from Knuckles.

"Don't encourage him!" Knuckles complained to the two-tailed fox. Tikal looked around, just now noticing where they all were.

"Friends," she pointed out, "we are in the Mystic Ruins." Tails gasped.

"Then that means-" he was cut off by a maniacal laugh. The seven heroes looked up and noticed Doctor Eggman on his Eggmobile with Mecha Sonic on the ground below him.

"Well, you puny rodents," Eggman announced, "I hope you feel ready to meet your end!" Sonic smiled.

"Isn't that what you always say?" he mocked. Eggman growled.

"I'll see to it myself that you're destroyed this time. Mecha Sonic, attack!" Mecha Sonic then charged at them with a yellow aura around him that sped him up. He plowed straight through the team of heroes, knocking them all away in separate directions.

"Please stop this!" Tikal advocated as she rose. Cream placed her hand on Tikal's shoulders with sad eyes.

"We won't be able to convince him," she said softly. "Emerl, Shadow, Gamma and Chaos Gamma proved some weapons can have feelings, but robots like these prove some can't. I'm just as pacifistic as you, but we must be mature enough to know when someone draws the line. Chaos Gamma taught me that." Tikal grunted, knowing Cream was right. Mecha Sonic rolled into a bladed sphere and charged at the heroes. This time, they all dodged, except Knuckles, who caught the rolling ball form of Mecha sonic and hurled it at Eggman. Eggman fired at the projectile by instinct, blasting Mecha Sonic back at the team. Tikal kicked it back at Eggman, and this time, he merely dodged. Mecha Sonic fell into the water, exploding on contact.

"Hey!" a deep voice bellowed from bellow. Big the Cat appeared from under the stairs leading to the platform everyone was on. In his hand was a fishing rod that had half of the string missing. He pointed at Eggman. "Your machine killed my rod," he complained, "bad Eggman!" He then drew a new, intact rod and swung the string at Eggman. The hook of the rod latched onto his collar bone. Big then leaped over the floating eggmobile Eggman was on, propelling his body with the rod attatched to Eggman, and landed behind Eggman. He swung forward, flipping Eggman forward and into the sea. All the heroes stared at Big.

"Woah," Knuckles interjected. Amy ran up to Big and gave him a hug. Cream quickly did the same.

"Big, that was amazing!" Amy cheered.

"Incredible," Tails agreed. "But I wonder, what happened to Eggman?"

"Aw thanks," Big smiled. "The Doctor? He's probably a goner. Let's just go home." Everyone nodded and headed to Tails' workshop to celebrate without any idea of what was in store for them.


	6. Chapter 6

Shadow swiftly dashed through the Sky Sanctuary in search of Rouge. She wasn't answering her communicator, so he was forced to locate her. It certainly wasn't out of concern; merely that Rouge would certainly appreciate Shadow's newest acquisition: a Chaos Emerald. Shadow halted, his heels buffeting the cobblestone floor, at the sight of a small anthropomorphic bat silhouette. "Rouge," Shadow began, "I've brought you some-"

Shadow's voice faltered as he saw that Rouge was crying, her face buried in her hands. "What's the matter?" Without looking up, Rouge replied,

"Nothing. Nothing's wrong. You said you had something for me?" she asked in an attempt to change the subject. Shadow nodded.

"Indeed, perhaps it will help you feel better. I know how much you love jewelry, and I really have no use for it, so this Chaos Emerald is yours." Rouge tensed.

"No," she said. "Get that away from me!" Shadow was startled. Rouge used to obsess over Chaos Emeralds. What could have caused such an abrupt change? Shadow noticed that Rouge refused to look up.

"Rouge," he ordered, "look at me." Rouge attempted to make Shadow uncomfortable with that command.

"That's a slightly creepy request," she said. "So, I'd rather not." Rouge expected Shadow to say something along the lines of, "You're right; sorry," with a flustered expression. Instead, he repeated himself.

"Rouge, look at me." Reluctantly, Rouge obliged and looked up. Shadow's eyes widened in shock. Shadow though it lucky Rouge could not see that, because it may have seemed like mockery.

"How did this happen? How did you lose your sight?" he demanded. Rouge didn't find the strength to relive the horrid memory and instead once again began sobbing. Angrily, Shadow clenched his fist. He forgot that he was holding the Chaos Emerald in that hand and ended up destroying it. "Oh shoot," Shadow interjected. The shattered emerald began to emit a brilliant white light. Shadow averted his gaze, but Rouge no longer had the need to do so. At last, the light died out. Shadow turned to look at the new figure before them. The being was roughly the size of 2 Omegas put together. His hair was made of flames. Held firmly in the figure's fist was a small mace, though it was clear that the weapon could grow at the owners' will. The being resembled a knight, but instead of legs it had a cloud of vapor that seemed to be sucking the color from the environment, like some sort of rag. Shadow almost snickered at the thought of what an amazing Sham Wowmascot this guy could make. The more light absorbed by the cloud, the brighter the cloud became. Soon, all the light within a visible radius had been sucked up, and the three stood in a scene of black and white. "I don't suppose you'd tell us who you are?" Shadow asked. The giant being scowled.

"I have nothing to hide, and that includes my identity," he said. "I am the spirit of the 4th Chaos Emerald" Rouge looked puzzled.

"Spirit?" she asked. The spirit nodded.

"Every emerald has a spirit locked inside of it. What do you think gives them their power?" he asked. Shadow looked down at the 4th emerald, and indeed it had lost its glow.

"Well—what should I call you?"

"#4."

"Well, #4," Shadow said, "could you help my friend here get her vision back?" #4 shook his head.

"I'm afraid that's beyond my power." Rouge put her head down in disappointment.

"However," #4 said, "the spirit of the Master Emerald can." This time it was Rouge's turn to shake her head. "The Master Emerald is the one that blinded me in the first place. Why would it restore my sight?"

"Because," #4 said, "it was being influenced by someone."

"Tikal," Rouge growled.

"Your friend here," #4 said as he gestured towards Shadow, "can manipulate Chaos Emeralds as well. The Master Emerald is very easily influenced. However, to undo what it has done to you, bat, the Master Emerald must first be woken, liberated."

"So if we free the Master Emeralds's spirit," Rouge concluded, "I can have my vision back."

"Indeed. However, I know the other Chaos Emeralds' spirits would never approve of us disabling the Master Emeralds' use for the "heroes" of this world."

Sonic and his friends, Shadow thought.

"We must make sure not to let them awaken. They were always so obsessed with order. I am different." Rouge smiled for the first time since she had lost her sight.

"Thank you for your advice!" Rouge said.

"That is not all," #4 said. "As a token of gratitude for freeing me, I will aid you and your friend on this quest." Rouge cheered in joy, and Shadow began laughing menacingly.

"This is perfect!" he exclaimed. "With the power of a Chaos Emerald manifested as a living being, along with my Chaos Control, there's no way we can be overcome!" He then turned to Rouge. "As the first bat born with sight, you never bothered to learn how to 'see' with sonar waves, did you?"

"Unfortunately, no."

"Well you have 3 days to learn. After that, we're beginning our quest. I have a score to settle with the hedgehog that I'm certain this Tikal is with. And even if you learn sonar, I'm sure you're much more comfortable seeing." Rouge nodded. "Then get to work."

"Right!" Rouge ran into a cave, perhaps to practice or to rest before doing so. Shadow returned his attention to #4. "You and I," Shadow said, "have some things to talk about."

Eggman opened his eyes, regretting it instantly as salt water poured into his eyes, stinging with the intensity of a white star .He tried gasping for air, but it was like trying to inhale knives. Finally, he recalled that he could transform his bifocals into swimming goggles with the press of a button. He did so, and now that he could finally see, swam down to the surprisingly shallow lake, passing by a few scraps of Mecha Sonic's remains on the way there. The lack of oxygen was building up pressure in Eggman's chest that only got worse the deeper he submerged. Just when Eggman thought his lungs would burst, he finally saw the switch at the bottom of the lake and pressed it. Instantly, he was sucked in by a large tube that sent him down to his underwater base. He landed sprawled on the floor, soaking wet. Drops of water dripped down his body and created a small puddle on the floor. He panted heavily. He was too exhausted to get up just yet. "Oh my!" Cubot cried in concern as he raced over to the doctor. "What happened to you? Did you try swimming without a ring again?"

"No," the scientist responded in a hushed tone. Orbot came over and tried to get him to sleep.

"I have no time for this nonsense!" Eggman protested. "I must put to use a weapon I've been saving for a special case. And with this, I will see to it that the stupid cat suffers." Eggman opened up a compartment in his lab's floor, and a large Mech Suit emerged from it. Alongside it was the Tails Doll. Eggman let out a maniacal, sadistic laugh that echoed through the ocean, but was unheard by Sonic and his friends.


End file.
